According to beat writer Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune, “speculation is” that the Northsiders are preparing to promote 22-year-old first base prospect Anthony Rizzo from Triple-A Iowa in time for Tuesday night’s game against the Mets.

Rizzo has registered a sparkling .355/.416/.722 batting line with 23 home runs and 62 RBI in 67 games this season at Iowa. The Florida native was selected in the sixth round of the 2007 MLB Amateur Draft by the Red Sox, then traded to San Diego in 2010 as part of the Adrian Gonzalez blockbuster. The Cubs acquired him this past winter for flame-thrower Andrew Cashner and outfielder Kyung-Min Na.

Rizzo struggled mightily in his first taste of the majors last season, hitting just .141 with a .523 OPS across 153 plate appearances for the Padres. He’ll hope for much better results in his second MLB experience.

“I don’t think I’ve really been around anyone who has had this much hype,” Cubs manager Dale Sveum told the Tribune on Saturday evening. “”The 30 days or so in spring training, he seemed to be a guy very ahead of the game, maturity-wise. He has all those leadership skills. We’ll all have to be a little bit patient and understand the game is a lot different here than it is in Triple-A. … He’s confident.”